The man who could bring the city standstill on one word — the Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, also fears the flood, especially after 26/7 deluge, reports Sujit Mahamulkar.

The man who could bring the city standstill on one word — the Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, also fears the flood, especially after 26/7 deluge.

The civic body has decided to install a water pump at Matoshree at Kala Nagar in Bandra (East).“We have planned to install 211 pumps — 79 in the city, 78 in the eastern suburbs and 54 in the western suburbs to drain out rainwater,” said Kishore Gajbhiye additional municipal commissioner.

When asked about the Matoshree pump, he said: “That could be flood prone area.”

The pump will be installed for the monsoon — from June to September.

The most vulnerable spot for the flood, Milan Subway at Santacruz, will have three pumps.

One of these three pumps will be high power and two will be of 60,000 litres per hour rainwater drain out capacity. One pump, with the capacity of 60,000 litres, will be kept in the Kala Nagar area.

The pump installed at Matoshree will have the drainout capacity of 1.25 lakh litres per hour.

In the 2005 deluge, when the water level in Bandra’s Kala Nagar rose and entered Matoshree, the Sena chief was shifted to Raj Thackeray’s residence in Dadar.

Kala Nagar is a low-lying area but is not included in the civic flood-prone areas list. “Generally the civic body installs water pumps in public places like road, near a nullah, civic hospitals and the slum area,” said senior official on condition of anonymity.

“The pump to be installed at Matoshree is an exceptional case,” he added.